The Matrix: Recursion
by Vestara
Summary: The crew of the hovercraft Reliquary are stranded in an underground tunnel. With slim to no hope of rescue, they have no choice but to enter the Matrix. However, while inside, they discover a plot that could finish off Zion, and the Human race, for good. Takes place during the fourth cycle of the Matrix, before Neo's time.
1. Chapter 1: Tunnels

The Matrix: Recursion

Chapter 1: Tunnels

The Zion-bound ship Reliquary sped through the underground tunnels with over a dozen enemy machines (Squids, as they were dubbed) hot on their tail. The ship's tough as nails gunner Alycia, was blasting them with burst after burst from the revolving gun turret when she heard the muffled shout from Abraxis, the captain of the Reliquary; "We're about to fire off the EMP, what's the status back there?"

"What do you think?" Alycia tersely hollered back at the captain in answer, shooting a Squid she heard come a little too close to the bulkhead for her liking.

Up in the cockpit, Abraxis gave a nod to his comrade Fixer. He then leaned back, closing his eyes and bracing himself as he pressed the large red button to his right.

The blue blast radiated out from the cockpit, the ship dropped in altitude and slammed to the ground. Its landing skids held in the impact, but it still slid due to its momentum, slamming through various debris that littered the tunnel's bottom. After what seemed like an eternity, the Reliquary slowed down and slammed into the ruins of another Zion hovercraft, finally stopping in its flight. Silence came back into the tunnel soon after.

At the turret, Alycia gave out a relieved sigh as she heard the machines crash down into the tunnel floor after them. The ship was deathly quiet as she unstrapped herself, put a hand to the wall and reached the ladder to the main deck. She sat at one of the bolted down tables and waited for her crew members to show up. Not a bad run, she thought to herself dryly, wiping her hands of sweat. At least it was better than a few of the others.

No less than a minute had passed before the beam of a flashlight shown into the room, which was followed by the captain, Fixer, and the matrix operator Lindsay.  
"The computer's emergency power generators are up and running." She informed Alycia by way of greeting.

"Noted." The dark haired woman replied to the operator, giving a slight nod in the direction of her voice.

Abraxis and Fixer sat opposite to Alycia, while she heard Lindsay take a seat up on her left. "We need to get into the Matrix," The captain began, Alycia concentrated on his familiar gruff voice "Meet up with other Resistance members and inform them of the situation." Alycia was excited about the prospect of entering the Matrix again: She always was. The least of reasons being the combat.

"Small problem captain," Fixer said as if explaining something to a five year old "You know as well as I do they won't risk anyone for a single ship. No rescue mission, not for a minor little crew like us."

Lindsay grabbed Alycia's hand as she saw the woman tense up in the silence that followed Fixer's grimly true proclamation. She knew the one thing the woman hated were silences; the unknown. "We'll worry about that when it comes to it, now won't we?" The operator spoke out, directing it more at the captain than at Fixer.

Abraxis responded with a quick nod of his bald head. "Get it ready." He ordered.

"Yeah, let's go already." Alycia grumbled as she heard the captain and Fixer move into their chairs and waited as Lindsay helped strap them in. Alycia listened and heard as the captain's needle was inserted first. Lindsay reached around her head rest, and then Alycia felt as the needle was shoved up into the port in her skull, her pure white eyes going wide in the glow of the vital monitoring screen.


	2. Chapter 2: Enter the Matrix

Chapter 2: Enter the Matrix

The Matrix: New York; Central park; August 2013

Alycia opened her eyes to the blinding light of the sun and stepped out of the bushes. She looked down at herself, satisfied at her attire. Plain white pants and a matching colored tank top, perfect for the weather. Her short dark hair was clipped back so as not to bother her face.

Another woman's risidual self image materialized, and she stepped out of the brush behind Alycia, wearing her trademark scarf around her neck, as well as her black leather jacket and jeans. The mysterious woman smiled as she took in her surroundings. "Seen the captain and Fixer around?" She asked of Alycia, who stared in shock for a moment, then shook her head in response.

It didn't matter why she was here, or how, or how she knew who was here, she reasoned with herself. "I figured they'd have at least waited for us." Alycia replied, annoyed as she glanced around herself, though she couldn't stop the feelings of joy from rising to the surface. New York, herself an Anubis. There's no place like home. She thought with a smile.

The two women were just exiting the park gates when they saw their captain and Fixer. The men were casually leaning against the brick wall in the shade, wearing nearly identical trench coats and black garments. The captain raised his eyebrows at the sight of Anubis, but said nothing. Besides the obvious reasons, Alycia thought she knew why; rumor had it they'd both been freed at the same time, and inside the Matrix they'd had a life together. Fixer's voice shook her out of her thoughts, "Well well, what a family reunion we have here..."

"Jerome." Abraxis said warningly. Fixer's face went blank at the use of his real name. "Let's get going." The captain continued, carefully turning his back on Anubis, leading the way into an alley to avoid pedestrians.

"Lindsay, do you have us?" Alycia asked into a cell phone she took from her pocket.

"I got you, don't worry. You're as clear of enemies as the digital sky is clear today. No exiles, no agents nearby, none of that Merovingian's goons." She paused before adding jealously "It looks nice in there."

Nicer than you think, Alycia thought as she basked in the sunlight.

"It always does before the shooting starts." Anubis commented pointedly as a 9mm pistol materialized in her hand. The woman tucked it into her waistband as the group exited the end of the alley and made their way to an abandoned warehouse that was a known rendezvous location.

As the captain and Anubis pulled open the large doors, Fixer said off handedly "So what's the real plan here Abrax? We sit tight and wait for someone to show? That could take days, or hell, weeks."

Alycia gave the man a pained look and a response was out of her mouth before the captain could reply. "Would you rather we spend that time back in that tunnel, fretting over death, with garbage for food and nothing to do? Least in here we can DO things." Most of all me, she thought bitterly.

Some of that must have edged into her expression, for Fixer gave a muttered apology before they entered into the warehouse through the now opened doors.

"We wait here for an hour. Alycia, I want you and Fixer out there looking for exits after the hour is up. Anubis and I have to take care of something regarding a few exiles." The captain said to the crew, sitting down against the wall next to Anubis. Alycia decided to sit against a crate of unidentifiable contents, while Fixer stood beside the doors like the security guard he used to be during his Matrix life.

Half an hour later, Alycia was getting stir crazy. She stood and walked past Fixer out onto the sidewalk, beginning to pace. She didn't want to think right now, she didn't want to wait, she wanted to DO, to be out there accomplishing things. She was so caught up in herself that she failed to notice the red dot appear on her the edge of her vision.

Fixer watched Alycia pace, knowing the woman was a fighter to the core and that she was itching to get something done. He was about to suggest she accompany him on a perimeter search, when he saw the familiar red laser of a sniper going from a nearby skyscraper to the side of her head. He threw himself forward without any warning, colliding into her and taking her to the ground. He heard the faint sound of a silenced weapon going off in the distance, and then a millisecond later heard the impact of a bullet into the concrete. He rolled with her into the warehouse, putting a crate between them and the shooter's line of sight, then came up on his knees with an M16.

Anubis and Abraxis jumped to their feet simultaniously at the sound of the bullet and drew weapons: Anubis, her pistol and a newly materialized katana. Abraxis, his familiar sawn off shotgun. The glass above them shattered and two men in what seemed to be ninja garments came sailing down, firing automatic machine gun pistols as they dropped. The captain rolled behind a stack of crates, Anubis firing her pistol at the intruders as she followed suite with a backward dive. The two ninja clad men went into backward handsprings, bringing them up against the wall.

Fixer peeked around his cover and fired his machine gun at the two enemies that had dropped in, but they deftly dodged behind makeshift cover of their own, his bullets only clanging against the wall. Who the hell are these clowns? He briefly thought as he fired into the barrels they hid behind. His clip expended, he tossed his machine gun aside angrily as the two men slid into the open, arms raised. Fixer was even more purplexed by this.

Captain Abraxis peeked over the crates, seeing the two men standing in the open, their arms raised in a gesture of surrender. He gave a glance to Fixer and Alycia. "Stand down!" he ordered sternly from across the warehouse. Anubis readied her pistol, but the captain moved as quick as lightning and pushed her gun down so it aimed at the floor. Anubis smiled in amusement, however she stowed her weapon away beside her sword.

"Who are you?" The captain asked, regarding the two men warily as he stepped closer to them.

"People who believe you're making the wrong choices." One said, disgust evident in his voice.

"About?" Abraxis prodded quietly.

"The Matrix, the machines, everything." Came the low answer from the second man. "It's quite obvious."

"Are you exiles?"

The two actually burst into laughter at that, though they recovered quickly. "Exiles? No. We're Human, same as you Captain. And now, this is where your career ends."

Anubis saw something the captain clearly couldn't from his view point: The grenade rolling in behind the man on the right. she sprung forward with super-human speed, slicing her sword into his neck, decapitating him and kicking the explosive device back into the street. The entire process taking about two seconds. Fixer and Alycia sprinted to the far end of the warehouse at the sight of this, while Abraxis jump kicked the remaining man, propelling him out into the street.

The grenade went off, shrapnel ripped into the man, burning him, and the force of the explosion took off his arms, tossing his body into a building.

The four of them made their way to the other end of the warehouse, piling in to a vacant van. Abraxis and Fixer took the front seats, while Anubis and Alycia hunched down in the back. Alycia quickly took out her phone and spoke calmly considering the circumstances "Lindsay, we need keys to this vehicle." she put the cell away. A moment later a key materialized on the dash board and they were off.

After a few minutes of silence Alycia spoke what was on everyone's mind. "What in the hell just happened? We get to a rondezvous, and we have some...Some machine sympathizers after us thirty minutes in? How convenient is that, by the way?" She cast a glance at Anubis, thinking back to how she'd randomly entered the Matrix seconds after they had...

A burst of machine gun fire against the rear doors stopped any further discussion that might have occurred.


	3. Chapter 3: Freeway Ataxia

Chapter 3: Freeway Ataxia

"I'll take care of this." Anubis stated non chalanty as she kicked open the doors, steadied herself against the evasive manevuers and returned fire at their pursuers car. Two of her shots hit the hood, while the third hit low on the windshield.

Alycia was having none of that. She snatched up the captain's shotgun and began blasting away at the enemy, forcing them to swerve behind a passing semi for cover. I'm taking these traitorous bastards out, whether Anubis likes it or not, she thought fiercely.

Abraxis took the vehicle around a corner, slipping in between two cars, passing a truck, then jerked the steering wheel as an ambulance went rushing by. Fixer gave him a sideways look. "Just like old times, eh Captain?" He quipped slyly.

"Stow it," The captain told his friend "This is no time for that mouth of yours to be running. Get Lindsay on the line, find us an exit." He paused to give a quick peek into his rearview mirror. "And be ready, we're taking this to the freeway and if I'm not mistaken I hear the police."

"Oh dear."

"Oh shit." Alycia cursed, hearing the conversation at the front with one ear, hearing the cops with the other, but keeping her eyes and gun trained on the following car as the captain took them toward an on ramp. The car sped up, the woman in the passenger seat climbed out the window onto the roof. Alycia fired, but her shots missed as the captain turned to avoid a collision with an oncoming car. She knew what the opponent intended to do and without giving it a second thought Alycia took the opportunity, saw the vehicle behind both of them...and leaped through the air in a hyper jump, tackling the woman off the car where they both tumbled through the air, landing hard on the trailer of a flat bed truck.

Alycia rolled to her feet, dodging the other woman who came down with a heel strike that would've broken her spine. They traded furious blows, and Alycia quickly realized she was outclassed, with her taking the defensive. I have to end this quickly. In slow motion she saw the incoming kick, she spun, grabbed the booted foot that had been meant for her stomach and tossed her opponent against the strapped down logs. She followed this up with a sliding kick that the woman easily flipped over, and they clashed again.

Anubis watched the crew member Alycia's fight with mild interest, briefly taking note of Fixer saying they'd found an exit point. She knew sooner rather than later that the girl would end up dead. Alycia was a gunner, not skilled in hand to hand, not experienced, no matter what she'd had loaded into her. Fixer must have been thinking the same thing. He climbed back and hyper jumped past without a word, then again off the enemy's car to land on the trailer. Anubis resumed firing at the enemy vehicle, however when a police car rammed unexpectedly into the side of the van, she let go of her weapon.

The van did a full 360 degree turn as the captain surrendered the wheel to the momentum after the impact. An officer began firing his handgun out the window at him, and Abraxis slammed up against the side rail to avoid taking hits. That escalated quickly. He growled to himself. He spared another peek at his mirror to see how Fixer and Alycia were fairing.

Then he wished he hadn't.

Alycia and the red headed enemy were exchanging blows again when Fixer landed off to the side, taking no time to charge in and aim a punch for the woman's head. Alycia stepped back to rest and let him take over, hating herself for that. Regrettably, she was only human.

Fixer aimed a well timed flurry of kicks at the woman. To his surprise, she blocked every one of them and simply gave an open palmed shoved at his chest, launching him back. He back flipped and landed on his feet a second before she charged him, shoving him against the back of the truck. That's when a rather nasty, large set of bullet holes appeared an inch from his head. Accompanied by the all too dreaded sound of a sub machine gun that announced: Agent.

As the Agent's ghostly form phased its' way out of the truck cabin, Fixer quickly punched the woman and slid beneath her legs, coming up next to Alycia who was starting determinedly at the pale dreadlocked Agent. They stared at one another, a standoff, before what happened next shocked them.

"You've done good work in tracking the anomaly." The Agent said to the red headed woman.

She seemed to force a smile, not looking at him as she replied "Don't forget the deal."

"Of course." The Agent inclined his head slightly.

The anomaly? Fixer and Alycia exchanged glances, taking slow steps backwards. They knew what it meant, everyone knew. Alycia's mind was racing.  
In ancient Zion legends, there was a prophecy, a tale of a being who would rise up against the Machines and lead them to victory. But...Of course it was just a legend, or so they'd assumed. If Agents thought it was a real thing..How would they even know about such a thing? And more importantly, she registered the fact that one of them was supposedly this prophesized leader.

The Agent spoke again, bringing Alycia out of her thoughts. "Kill the others." He told the red head. She nodded, then turned and soared over to the car, barely missing being swiped away by another truck.

The flat-bed trailer suddenly came to a slow halt in the middle of the freeway. Anubis's sword materialized in front of Fixer. He grabbed it out of the air and leaped at the Agent with a downward slice meant to cleave him in half, but missed as he phased into ghost form. The sword passed harmlessly through him. He reverted and struck out with a powerful kick.

Fixer didn't take the bait, instead slashing his sword at the Agent's midsection. It struck and went in a centimeter to the spine when the Agent phased again, the wound healed as he again reverted. An indistinguishible cry from Alycia got part of Fixer's attention as the combat continued. He spun a roundhouse kick at the Agent and threw a look at Alycia. She wasn't in any danger, and, irritated, Fixer returned to the fight in earnest.

Alycia gave out a warning to her friend about the incoming danger, but he didn't appear to take it in, engrossed in his fight with the Agent as he was. She didn't dare try to interfere. She knew she wasn't at their level, she knew anything she did would be a mistake and might even cause Fixer to be killed.

She hung back, indecisive as ever she watched as a tanker and its' Agent driver plowed through traffic ahead, hurtling straight toward them.


End file.
